Poll: Jeanne Shaheen leads Scott Brown in heated Senate race

New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is leading her Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, by 10 points in the heated New Hampshire Senate race, according to a poll released Thursday.

Forty-nine percent of the 800 respondents polled in the Suffolk University/Boston Herald survey said they support Shaheen, opposed to 39% support for Brown.

Shaheen, New Hampshire’s first female governor – and first female U.S. senator from the state – came out on top in favorability ratings as well. Fifty-two percent of respondents said they have a favorable opinion of Shaheen; 35% have a favorable opinion of Brown.

While Shaheen’s favorability ratings have dipped slightly since Brown declared his candidacy (by six percentage points), she still holds the advantage.

“Scott Brown’s unfavorable number is dangerously high,” David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said in a statement.

Brown, who lost his re-election bid in the 2012 Massachusetts Senate race to progressive Democrat Elizabeth Warren, moved to New Hampshire to gear up for the 2014 race. He officially entered the race in April, describing himself as a “true independent voice,” and declaring battle against “the liberal out-of-touch Obama-Shaheen agenda.” Brown is betting on dissatisfaction with the White House and Obamacare to win over votes.

The poll was conducted between June 14 and June 18 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.

The New Hampshire primary will take place Sept. 9. The general election is Nov. 4.